A Dangerous Damsel
by Charlotte-san
Summary: While walking back to the guild one night, Lucy and Levy are surprised by two thugs. Lucy takes the initiative and decides to show the thugs that she's not just some damsel in distress, she can be dangerous. Rated T for some people's dirty mouths. One-shot
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: It's my first Fairy Tail fanfic! Since I've only recently started watching this anime/reading this manga, believe it or not the characters may or may not be OOC. I'm not exactly certain where this lies in the timeline of the canon series, but I imagine it sometime after the current plotline. If there are any grammar/spelling issues just review and tell me, I'm using the spellings for names that they have of the Fairy Tail Wiki, so they might not be correct. After the introductory paragraph (The short thing right there below this bold) the story is told from Lucy's point of view.**

**~SPOILERS: If you haven't read/watched the Phantom Lord Arc yet, there are a few spoilers in here from there**

**I do not own Fairy Tail, I'm not that awesome.**

* * *

The darkening sky looked over the town of Magnolia, now finally quieting down after a long and busy day. The streetlights were beginning to flicker on as two people passed under the orange glow of one on an empty street. The two, both female one being a busty blond the other a petite blunette, were chattering happily, completely unaware of the danger the shadows held.

* * *

"Aw, I'm just so sad that we didn't bring money to that bookstore Lu-chan. I feel really bad for asking the clerk to put that expensive book on hold for a few days until I get the money, but I _have_ to get it," I giggled as Levy McGarden pouted over the temporary loss of the newest book of her dreams. She limped alongside me, and as we passed under a street light I saw Levy's arm in a sling, the bandages around her midsection showing, Levy having brought out her old swimsuit top and jacket combination until her broken rib was better to reduce the chance on anything rubbing against it. Although I couldn't see it, I knew Levy's foot, which she'd cut, was bothering her. Her Jet and Droy had run into some issues on their last mission, luckily not as beaten up as they could have been.

"You only have to wait a few days for it Levy, I'm sure you have another book you can read until then," I smiled at her and she brightened a bit and nodded, "See? God, if only I could get my point across to Natsu as easily as I can with you. That idiot is so dense I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have a clue how much he means to some people."

"By 'some people' do you by any chance mean you Lu-chan?" Levy giggled and I felt my face heat up, "I know how you feel though. Gajeel is one tough person-or should we refer to them as Dragon Slayers at time like this?- anyway it's next to impossible to tell if he likes me or if he just talks to me because he feels guilty about what he did to me during the whole Phantom Lord situation. It's really irritati- Lu-chan are you even listening to me?" I looked straight forward at the alleyway just ahead of us. It figures that the streetlight just in front of it was burnt out, which meant that we never noticed the two figures lurking in the dark until we were only about fifteen feet away from them and they stepped out of the light.

The first guy looked tough; he had what appeared to be bleached hair, although the orange light made it hard to tell, he was taller than me and muscular, nothing on Natsu or some of the guys at the guild, but enough so to give me some trouble if he decided he wanted a fight. His features were impassive, so far he hadn't shown any signs of emotion. He cracked his fingers and I noticed that he had holder-magic rings on most of his fingers. The other thug was the complete opposite and looked like he was mainly there for the muscles while his partner was the real brains of the situation, he was large, both height-wise and muscle-wise, and grinning sadistically from ear to ear. However if the way he ambled out of the alleyway was anything to go off of, he seemed to move very slow.

"Why? Why is it this always happens?" I moaned in a second of despair, just why had I left my keys at home? Even if Aquarius, Scorpio, Loke and Aries were going on a double date, Taurus sure would have come in handy right now. I kept my eyes on the two thugs as they checked the two of us out but I spoke quietly to Levy, "Try to stay out of this physically, I know it hurts to move too much, so try not to aggravate your injuries too much. Besides" I muttered under my breath, "I don't want Gajeel breathing down my neck for letting you get hurt even worse."

"Lu-chan," Levy breathed out with worry. I smiled at her and grabbed my whip from my hip, "Fine, but I can still help with my solid script!"

"Alright you two lowlifes let us go and you won't get hurt," I forewarned with a glare, but the two only laughed.

"Huh, seems like Blondie's got some spunk. I'll handle her, you get the little blue-haired one. I highly doubt that they're anything but damsels in distress anyway," The magic-user instructed his partner who moved forward to grab Levy. Before he even knew what was happening I had my whip wrapped around his wrist and had sent him sprawling to the ground.

"You know what they say," I grinned at Levy, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Now," I glared once more at the magic-user, "You've chosen the wrong girls to pick a fight with, we're Fairy Tail mages, and we're not going down without a fight! Besides why are you going for the injured girl, are you two so scared you'll get beaten by a mere 'damsel'?" My words had the intended effect and Brawn as I'd taken to calling him, charged forward at a look from Brains. I easily maneuvered around him with Levy then slammed my foot into his back, glad I decided to go with the combat boots today. Brawn hit his chin on the sidewalk and I grimaced as I heard the crack. I was about to ask Levy to help out with him when she held out some rope to tie him up with.

"Hm, I guess I did underestimate you two. Very well, I'll fight you myself. Although I don't see how you two are part of a mage guild if you don't even have magic," Without any warning a shot of electricity came jumping at me. I jumped out of the way, "I know what you're thinking, 'how can he be using lightning magic if he's a holder-type mage?' Well the answer's very simple, I got a lightning ring. It's very rare, but I like to be prepared."

I tightened my grip on my whip and looked at him, "I met a man like you once. His name was Bora and let me tell you, he was a lot more powerful than you but he was easily beaten. Even if I had my celestial keys with me, I wouldn't use them on a lowlife like you," I spat at Brains while he chuckled.

He pointed his arms in Levy's direction, but before he could shoot off another shot of lightning I wrapped my whip around his wrists. The moment the whip was secure around his wrists though, he tugged me towards him and punched me in the jaw. Pain exploded in my jaw and stars danced in my vision as I fell to the ground, hitting the other side of my jaw on the hard cement from the force of the hit. _I can't give up, not so he can get to Levy too._ I started to push myself off the ground but was stopped by a kick to my ribs that knocked my breath out. Another soon followed, and another after that until I couldn't hold myself up anymore. I didn't feel anything break, but if I came out of this without bruised ribs then I had to be a goddess.

"Maybe it's wrong to hit a girl, but you were getting on my nerves," I glared up at the man and panted with the effort to get my breath back, "But I have to show you your place somehow." Brains grabbed my hair and pulled my up by it, causing pain to spread along my skull.

"What the hell is it with men and picking me up by my hair, huh? It isn't a goddamn handle!" I hissed through my teeth and attempted to stand straight up, my ribs protesting the movement. Before I could straighten fully, Brains had pulled me up so high even on my toes I barely touched the ground, "SHIT!"

"Tsk, is that really language a young woman should be using?" Brains shook his head in mock-disappointment, his face still impassive, "I guess I'll have to teach you another lesson, won't I?" He splayed his hand across my stomach and dug his fingers into the still tender flesh. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out and saw Levy frantically trying to pull herself together and help me. I shook my head slowly and Brains followed my vision, "Ah yes, I'll be dealing with her after I get through with you." He tensed his hand and I felt the shock of electricity run through my body. I heard someone screaming through the white-hot pain filling my body and mind, and I dimly realized that it was me screaming, the sear of the scream burning in my throat. All of a sudden the pain stopped increasing in my body and I fell to the ground once more.

I panted on the ground, slowly regaining my surroundings and I opened my eyes to see Brains holding his face, one of Levy's Iron blocks on the ground next to my hand. I reached out, groaning at the pain, but picked the block up and smashed it on Brains' foot. He howled in pain and I heaved myself up and kicked him in the stomach, "You will _not_ lay a finger on Levy, got that? She's my nakama, and at Fairy Tail we protect our nakama. I've been through pain worse than this," My mind flashed back to the multiple times I've had fights over my time with Fairy Tail, "You're nothing compared to the pain I've felt!"

"We'll just have to change that, won't we?" Brains snarled. His face went from blank to enraged in seconds, and he pulled a knife from his coat pocket, "Too bad for you that all the criminals from this area know to have a knife on them at all times. Once you're taken care of, I can have a little _fun_ with your friend over there" He swiped at my stomach but I managed to weakly step back in the nick of time. I didn't get away completely from his attack however, as blood now steadily dripped out of a fairly deep cut in my thigh. Before I could get my muscles to respond again to move, Brains had stabbed the knife into my right shoulder, thankfully missing any bones. Blood gushed out of the stab wound, but the small knife stayed stuck in my shoulder.

"Lu-chan!" Levy cried out.

"Stay where you are Levy," I ordered as she stepped forward. I turned my attention back to Brains and fixed him with the glare I gave Natsu and Gray whenever they fought. The man stilled slightly, finally realizing he had pissed off the wrong woman, "You are going to pay. I don't mind when you threaten me, but the moment you threaten my friend, you're dead." I stalked toward the suddenly backing up man, the adrenaline suddenly flowing through my veins causing me to forget my pain for the moment. He stammered out an excuse, but I ignored him. Once I got close enough I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and punched him in the nose. He fell to the ground, unconscious. I turned to get Levy, but noticed she was staring at me with awe.

"Lu-chan, you were practically radiating your magic," She said softly as she walked up to me. Already she had more rope in her hands to tie the thug up with, and we dragged him over to tie him back-to-back with his partner and deal with later, "Let me take to knife out of your shoulder."

"No! It'll just make it bleed worse, I thought you knew that?" I smiled at her sheepish grin then gasped as I almost fell to the ground. My sudden spurt of energy was gone, leaving me drained and in pain. Even when I tried not to move my muscles were on fire. Levy grabbed my arm and put it around her shoulder and guided her arm around my waist.

"Let's get back to the guild. I can carry you using my solid script magic it that'll be easier," Levy offered and I shook my head.

"No, I want to walk away from this, my head held high," I grunted out past the pain and gritted them to keep from crying out.

* * *

The trip back to the guild was long and painful and I was growing more dizzy by the minute. My leg had finally stopped streaming blood and now only dripped it, but my shoulder was still bleeding heavily. Finally the doors to the guild were in front of my arms and Levy forced them open. No one paid much attention to us since the guild was busy as usual. Mira was helping Lisanna clean glasses, so their backs were turned, Erza sat at the bar eating cake while Gray and Natsu argued silently behind her back, Gajeel was the only one actually watching the door, like he was waiting for someone to come in. Even in my hazy state of mind I chuckled at how he was keeping an eye on Levy. He stood up and quickly strode towards us, effectively gaining everyone's attention.

"Why the fuck is Bunny Girl have a knife in her shoulder?" He asked loudly, interrupting Natsu and Gray's fight. I smiled weakly at everyone and tried to stand up on my own, but by now the blood loss was making me dizzy and light-headed. I stumbled forward, expecting to hit the floor but unable to make myself move. To my surprise, I looked up at Natsu and Gray, each of them supporting me from a side.

"I'll carry her to the infirmary, you get Wendy," Natsu said as he picked me up, the edges of my vision blackening quickly. My eyes fluttered closed as I heard Natsu say my name loudly, trying to get me back to the infirmary as soon as possible, but the jostling pained me. Finally the blackness filled my eyesight as I heard Natsu say my name even louder. _Natsu…_

* * *

I clenched my eyes shut as I regained consciousness, my head throbbing slightly. Forcing my breathes to even out, I tried to figure out what was going on. Finally I cracked my eyes open to see the guild's infirmary cast mostly in shadow, but with the gentle glow of a candle coming from my bedside.

When I finally attempted to sit up, I was surprised to find that my body didn't ache as much as I thought it would. I looked around to see if anyone was in the room with me, and was mildly surprised no one else was in the room. The clock on the wall showed me that it was almost four in the morning, which meant that if we had gotten to the guild about ten last night, I'd been out for six hours, a surprisingly short amount of time. I heard a noise from out in the bar, and grabbing the biggest book I could find in the room, I went to investigate. As I rounded the doorway, I gripped my temporary weapon tighter.

To my utter amazement, most of the guild was asleep in the barroom of the guild. Gajeel was cuddling Pantherlily on one of the tables, Levy was napping in a chair with her head laying on the table and Erza next to her along with the rest of Team Shadowgear, Natsu and Gray both sprawled on the floor by the door to the door to the infirmary, Wendy with Charle and Happy by the stage and the Take-over siblings all asleep by one another, leaning against the bar for support. I couldn't help but sniffle back tears as I saw all the others I chatted with on a daily basis sleeping peacefully all over the bar; Cana, Bisca, Alzak, Romeo, Juvia, and too many others to name. I felt tears start to spill out of my eyes and I sniffed again to try and hold them back so my crying wouldn't wake anyone up. Unfortunately in a room with three Dragon Slayers and their talking cats, that was a difficult task.

"Luce?" Natsu sat up sleepily, rubbing his eyes to see better. Once he could see clearly enough he noticed me crying and jumped up, "Luce, what're you doin' up already?! You shouldn't be outta bed!" Natsu's shouting woke up most of the other guild members, and soon I had Wendy running over to me so she could check my wounds. Everyone was asking me if I was alright and I felt tears prick at my eyes again.

"Thank you all for being worried about me, and I'm sorry I made you worry in the first place," I avoided eye contact with anyone and looked at the ground, "I promise I'll try to prevent this from happening again."

"What the hell are you talking about you idiot?" Gray snorted and I looked up in surprise, "You're being as dense as Flame Head usually is, and it's not fitting. There was nothing you could have done to stop him from pulling a knife on you, hell it's amazing that you punched him with the knife in your shoulder in the first place!"

I smiled and wiped the tears away, "Let's get back to sleep then, I'm really tired!" Everyone mumbled their agreement and they all went back to their previous sleeping arrangements, with a few minor adjustments. I found myself stuck between Natsu and Levy, with Gray on the other side of Natsu and Erza on Levy's other side. Happy came and settled on my lap and I hugged him once before leaning against the wall. As I fell asleep, I looked over the guild one last time before closing my eyes. _I wouldn't leave this guild for all the money in the world…_

* * *

When I woke up again morning sunlight was filtering through the windows of the guild. Most of the others who had stayed the night were just getting up as well, with the exception of Mira who was bustling about behind her bar getting ready for the day. I laid my head back down on my makeshift pillow, only to jerk up, causing pain to course through my body. Levy was leaning against my left side, groggily sitting up and looking around, and on my right was Natsu. He didn't look extremely happy to see me sitting up and grumbled something about his perfectly good blanket going missing. A shadow blocked the sunlight from my eyes and I looked up to see Wendy standing in front of me with Charle.

"You're going to want to take it really slow today Lucy. I gave you a pain reliever last night, so I'm guessing that's why you were able to get up and walk around without too much pain. I'll give you some more, but it makes you really sleepy," Wendy said and she held her hand out. I saw the little white pill, but closed her hand again.

"I'd rather stay awake for a while, at least until I eat something," I smiled up at her and she nodded.

"I've already got breakfast going Lucy, you just need to get someone to help you over here. And don't worry about paying, since you were protecting nakama last night, this is on the house!" Mira beamed over my way and I couldn't help but grin back. Another shadow stood in front of me and I looked up to see Gajeel standing there. I stuttered out a hello before he grabbed Levy's collar with one hand and picked me up with the other.

"Come on, you two gotta eat," Gajeel dropped Levy off with her team members and carried not to delicately over to the bar, "Thanks for protecting the Shrimp for me Bunny Girl. I owe you one."

"I didn't do anything for you idiot," I snorted and Gajeel dropped me onto a barstool, causing me to squeak in pain. Apparently whatever that guy had been using was powerful, someone should see those rings he had, "Levy's my friend, of course I'm going to protect her when she's hurt. Now go creepily watch her with Lily and keep denying your feelings." Maybe I was a little mean, but at this point my patience was being tried, all I wanted to do was eat something then get home to take a nice hot bath. Gajeel walked away with a growl, but I noticed a pink tint to the tips of his ears. Before he got too far he turned around and grinned at me sinisterly.

"By the way, I've moved past that phase. From here on out she's the one who decides where our relationship goes, I don't wanna fuck this up with her," Gajeel was walking away before I even had a full grip on what he said, but by then he was back over by Lily who was grinning at me. I smiled back at the Exceed and I knew we'd be planning later on how to get the two together.

"I made you something soft since your stomach and ribs are going to give you trouble," Mira said as she pushed a bowl of oatmeal in front of me. I normally didn't like oatmeal, but this looked delicious with brown sugar on top and fresh fruit on the side. She chuckled when she saw my hungry expression, "Don't eat too fast now, otherwise you'll upset you stomach. Wendy said be careful of things like this because you had a lot of electricity run through your body. If I remember right she said that along with some internal bruising and the obvious knife wounds you had bruised ribs and a very minor concussion, so it's okay for you to sleep. And if I were you, I'd probably soak in a hot bath for an hour or so to help with the sore muscles. I'm glad that I went with Erza last night to beat up those thugs, nobody messes with my nakama, and when I have kids they're going to be taught that first."

I paused in my eating to look up at Mira who had a soft look in her eyes and was looking at Fried, who felt her stare and turned around. When they locked eyes momentarily they both turned away with small blushes on their cheeks, "You'll make a great mom Mira, I know you will." I took one last bite of my bowl of oatmeal before slowly getting up, wincing at the soreness and pain still lingering in my body, "But I'm taking your advice and walking home. Later guys, and I'm sorry again for making you worry."

"You're going home alone?" Erza asked as she came up to me, "But you're hurt and without your keys or whip-"

"My whip!" My hand flew down to my hip, where my whip was missing from, "Oh no, those thugs probably took it!"

"We grabbed it for you," Mira said and handed it towards me. Before I could get it a much larger hand snatched it out of Mira's hand. I looked up the muscular arm I knew so well and made my way up to Natsu's face. He was scowling, which was rare for the normally happy-go-lucky Fire Dragon Slayer. I gulped when he turned his eyes on me and indulged for a moment to observe his handsome face. His features had gotten sharper and more chiseled since I had first met him all that time ago, his jawline more defined and his eyes were still captivating to look into.

"You're not walking home Luce, and that's final. I'll take her home Erza," Natsu said before turning fully towards me and picking me up gently in his arms. I felt my face burn and I looked pointedly at Natsu's chest to avoid the knowing looks I received from the rest of the guild. That didn't do much for my blush I realized belatedly as my eyes met the tanned muscle of Natsu's chest. He was really warm, which was doing wonders for the pain. After my meal though, the heat was making me sleepy again and I laid my head on his chest, falling asleep almost instantly. Distantly I heard Natsu chuckle, and felt his chest rumble with the noise and heard the voices say something about more pain relievers in the oatmeal along with some sleeping medication so the walk home wouldn't be too painful.

* * *

I stretched out my arms and immediately regretted the movement, "Ouch! Ugh, I forgot about that," I sat up slowly and looked around my apartment, not at all surprised to see Natsu sprawled on the floor next to my bed snoring loudly. I giggled at his cuteness and laid back down closing my eyes, "You should have gone home idiot."

"But I wanted to be here when you woke up," Natsu said, and I opened my eyes to see Natsu peering at me, his face inches from mine, "Besides, I made noodles for when you woke up! Mira said they were okay for you to eat. I have to reheat them because I thought you'd be up earlier, but that's no problem!" Natsu's face disappeared for a moment before he was back and helping me sit up in my bed. He handed me a bowl of noodles and proceeded to eat his quickly while I just nibbled on mine. It's not that I wasn't hungry, but the thoughts running through my head made eating sound like a terrible idea.

_Every time that I get into a fight while someone always has to come and save me or help me. I must be so much more trouble than I'm worth to everyone, I mean Erza and Juvia rarely need someone to come and rescue them like some damn damsel in distress. Even if I did do the fighting this time, I still had to have Levy help me get back to the guild, and then I passed out in front of everyone! It's ridiculous how much weaker I am compared to the others maybe it's best if I jus-_

"What's wrong Luce?" My eyes snapped up from my food to Natsu's face. He looked worried, which means he must have been looking at me while I was thinking.

"Nothing, I'm just fine!" I forced a smile at Natsu who tilted his sideways slightly. To help emphasize my statement I took a bite of my noodles and inwardly grimaced at the too-large of bite.

"No you're not, you never eat like that taking big bites unless you want to reassure someone, I've seen you do it to the others at the guild a lot," Natsu set his bowl on the floor and pulled his feet up so he could sit cross-legged on my bed. I felt my eyes widen _I never knew I did that…_ I felt Natsu's eye on me still and he gently took the bowl out of my hands, "I'm your partner Luce, I know when something's wrong. You get a funny expression on your face and look all sad. So just tell me what's wrong."

I looked away from Natsu and down at my comforter, "I really hate being some damsel in distress. There's always someone coming to my rescue because I'm too weak to defend myself, and most of the time it's you. It makes me feel like some damsel in distress or princess that needs constant rescuing from a knight in shining armor. It's so humiliating how much weaker I am than the majority of the guild, both physically and ability wise."

To my surprise Natsu simply threw his head back and laughed, "The day you become a damsel in distress Luce is the day that Gray keeps all of his damn clothes on!" I huffed and crossed my arms, looking out the window. If Natsu didn't want to take this seriously then I had every right to ignore him. Luckily after a minute of laughter Natsu stopped and looked at me a little more seriously, "Luce, you joined this guild a lot more recently than most of the other members, and even then most of them came from other guilds. You grew up without the influence of magic like the majority of Fairy Tail, so the fact that you even got in is an amazing feat in itself. Besides," Natsu sat forward and I leaned back against my headboard, bewildered. His smile was almost predatory in looks and caused a blush to rise up my neck to my cheeks. He got up on his hands and knees over my stretched out legs on my bed and got closer and closer to me, "It's nice to know that the girl I like needs my help every once in a while."

By now I could feel Natsu's breath on my face, and the darker gleam to his eyes. I gulped and pressed myself to the headboard even more, but Natsu kept coming closer. I saw his gaze, intense and focused, flick down to my lips, "You might want to give me some sort of sign soon Luce, I don't want to do this if you're unwilling." A jolt ran through my body at his voice, which only a second ago had been normal, was deeper and huskier than before. I nodded at him and in less than a second his lips were on mine. This time the tingles that went through my body were the good kind and I closed my eyes. After a moment of sitting still, Natsu's lips began to move against mine and I wound my arms around his neck while he adjusted me on the bed, laying me down and settling over me with one hand on my hip, the other resting by my head to support himself.

Although the kissing went on like this for quite a while, the movement didn't hurt at all. Maybe I should use kissing as a pain reliever more often…

* * *

**Done! Okay, so there's a few things you should know. 1) I don't really get into fist fights, so the fighting scene may or may not be a little bit terrible. 2) I haven't had much luck in the whole "kissing' department yet so the kissing scene might be, well, clichéd just a little bit. Anyway review away! If there's enough reviews, there will probably be a sequel where we get a glimpse into what happened with Gajeel and Levy! Bye for now!**


	2. Author's Note!

So this is just an author's note! I just wanted to tell you all that the second part of this story is done, so if you enjoyed the first part of this story then go to my profile and find it!

It's a Gajeel x Levy so if you don't like it then don't read it. Otherwise this update was pretty pointless for you, sorry. But now that you're wasted this time, you can review since you're all just _so_ nice.

Charlotte


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